One: Too Much of too Little
He rolled onto his back, glaring at the ceiling and waiting for the alarm clock to go off. He could already hear the hustle and bustle of the city outside. Then again, the sounds of the city never stopped, one of the charms belonging to New York City. He'd grown in up in the state, grew used to the sounds and actually welcomed them. He couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Closing his eyes momentarily he listened to the man snoring beside him in the bed. Chandler worked for the fire department. They met at a crime scene a few months back, a fire that took the lives of three people. They hit it off instantly and started spending a lot of time together off the job. One thing led to another and now they were in a relationship. He was actually surprised that both departments seemed comfortable with their relationship. At least he never sensed any animosity.
Rolling onto his side he gazed at the alarm clock. There remained another ten minutes until the alarm sounded. He wasn't sure what woke him from a sound sleep but he wished he could have slept the extra ten minutes. In his line of work sleep was something he couldn't take for granted. Though he was happy to have made it through the night without getting a single phone call. Those were the nights he hated the most, getting called away from the comfort of his bed to oversee some horrible act of cruelty. It came with the territory of being a detective of the NYPD. And despite the personal problems he had with his job he couldn't imagine doing anything else with his life. He came from a family cops, and over the years he'd made some really great friends.
Plus, had he not been a cop he never would have met Chandler.
As if reading his mind the firefighter snaked an arm around his waist. "Let me guess, the alarm is going to sound in a matter of moments?" The words were spoken in a sleepy voice.
"Yeah," confirmed Flack. "Unfortunately."
Chandler let out a disgruntled sigh. "Didn't we just get to bed? Or is it my imagination?"
"I'm afraid it's your imagination," Flack answered, turning to face the firefighter. "It merely seems like we just got to bed because yesterday was hell. You had that damned warehouse fire and I still don't know how I managed to close my last case. Talk about a whirlwind."
"Eh, not every day you run across a serial killer and get to hear your name on the night news," Chandler smiled.
The alarm buzzed. Flack reached out half-heartedly and pushed the snooze button. He went through the same motion every morning but never actually stayed in bed long enough for the alarm to sound a second time. Throwing back the covers he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. Outside he could hear the familiar sounds of the city and wondered what it would be like to live somewhere out in the country. Not that he ever planned to move, mainly because he loved his job and because he knew that he'd miss the sounds of the traffic and people. Standing, he made his way through the bedroom to the bathroom.
"Maybe I'll join you in the shower," Chandler called after him from the bed.
Flack stopped in the doorway looking back at his firefighter. Chandler was muscular in all the right ways with close-cropped brown hair and sparkling green eyes. "You don't have to be in at work today. Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't have shift again until the end of the week."
A mischievous glint appeared in the firefighter's eyes. "Big deal. Maybe I want to have a little morning fun. With our work schedules I feel that I hardly get to see you"
"Well, if you're coming than get your ass in gear. I don't have all day," Flack smiled.
Later that morning Flack wandered into the crime lab. A lot of his fellow detectives gave him crap over how friendly he'd become with the lab rats but he couldn't help it, they were an extremely likable group of people. Detective Mac Taylor ran one of a hell tight ship and because of his team a lot of crimes were solved instead of getting stuck on the cold case shelf. Stella Boneasara was basically second in charge, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was Mac's wife. She'd been his right hand woman well before they'd fallen in love and gotten married on the spur of the moment. She claimed to have kept her maiden name for professional reasons; which Flack understood. Working under them was Lindsay Monroe all the way out from Montana and still getting the hang of things; Aidan the spite fire who had one hell of a work drive; and Sheldon Hawks the former medical examiner turned crime scene investigator. When Flack first met Hawks he spent a lot of his time in the morgue like some morbid hermit. He was happy to see the man out and about.
Finishing off the team was Adam, the only real lab rat that Flack hung out with since the rest were investigators and Adam a lab technician, and Sid the new medical examiner. Flack had to admit that he liked Sid's odd sense of humor, made trips into the morgue that much easier to deal with. There were other people in the lab, scores of technicians and the like, but these were the only people that Flack worked with, the only ones he cared to work with.
He walked through the halls in search of any of them hoping to strike up a conversation. He'd been bored out of his mind sitting at his desk at the precinct. No calls had come in that needed him for the time being. All the other detectives were busy working crimes, actually doing their jobs. Sure he'd closed a big case the day just before but he liked to be out stopping the criminals, putting the bad guys behind bars. He ran into Mac coming out of the break room with a cup of coffee in hand.
"Where is everyone?" he asked.
Mac looked at him, not bothering to stop as he headed back toward his office. "Out on calls. Stella and Lindsay are dealing with a break-in while Aidan checks out a stolen car possibly used to traffic drugs."
"And Hawks?"
"Last time I saw him he was headed in the general direction of the morgue. Sid never balks at the offer of a helping hand."
"Does it ever stop?" Flack asked with a subtle shake of his head.
"If it did we wouldn't have jobs."
"Morbid way to think of things."
"But the truth."
Flack sighed. "I just wish that for once something good would come of all this. I mean, yeah, we catch the bad guys and get justice for the victims but….I don't know. I want to honestly change a life without it involving murder and mayhem."
"Good luck with that," Mac said as he stopped in the doorway of his office. "This line of work is full of murder and mayhem."
"Hey, a guy can dream."